Question

Remotely Backup files from network PCs

Asked by: reggiewolf

Here is what I am trying to do. I have a ton of computers that I need to refresh. I am looking for something to remotely grab the users IE Favorites, Outlook N2k File and some other small files. Some of these computer have more than 1 user. If possible I would like it to keep the folder hierarchy so I can restore the files I backed up onto the new computer before I install it. Is there any software that would be able to do that?

Thanks in advance for you help.

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Asked On
2008-11-03 at 08:56:11ID23871373
Topic

Backup & Restore Software

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Answers

 

by: leewPosted on 2008-11-03 at 09:42:38ID: 22869122

You have a few options:
1.  Redirect Application Data to a network share.
2.  Script it.
3.  Use roaming profiles

1.  Use folder redirection group policy for this.  However this does not cover Favorites.  You would still have to script those.
2.  See script below
3.  If you change and use roaming profiles, I STRONGLY recommend TESTING first and making use of the .ini to configure them so that ONLY the AppData and Favorites folders are copied - otherwise, you could create long delays for users when they log on.

REM Check if the user's favorites have been copied previously; if so, only copy the new favorites
REM New favorites are noted by the archive attribute.
if not exist "\\server\UserFavorites\%username%" (
   md "\\server\UserFavorites\%username%"
   xcopy "%userprofile%\favorites\*.*" "\\server\UserFavorites\%username%" /e /c /h /o /y
   attrib -a "%userprofile%\favorites\*.*" 
) else (
   xcopy "%userprofile%\favorites\*.*" "\\server\UserFavorites\%username%" /m /e /c /h /o /y
)
 
 
***** NEXT SCRIPT INCLUDES NK2 files.
 
 
REM Check if the user's favorites have been copied previously; if so, only copy the new favorites
REM to a folder based on the user's name.  New favorites are noted by the archive attribute.
if not exist "\\server\UserFavorites\%username%" (
   md "\\server\UserFavorites\%username%"
   md "\\server\UserFavorites\%username%\favorites"
   xcopy "%userprofile%\favorites\*.*" "\\server\UserFavorites\%username%\favorites" /e /c /h /o /y
   attrib -a "%userprofile%\favorites\*.*" 
) else (
   xcopy "%userprofile%\favorites\*.*" "\\server\UserFavorites\%username%\favorites" /m /e /c /h /o /y
)
copy "%appdata%\microsoft\outlook\*.nk2" "\\server\UserFavorites\%username%" /y

                                              
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